


The Good Side Of Things (return of the blanket fort)

by Novaviis



Series: Watercolour [24]
Category: DC Animated Universe, DCU (Comics), Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, Comfort Reading, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Growing Up, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Pillow & Blanket Forts, adult can have blanket forts too, cavity inducing, seriously the fluffiest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 08:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13431228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novaviis/pseuds/Novaviis
Summary: Dick and Wally have come a long way in their relationship from when they were teenagers, but sometimes, the world can still be unkind. The stinging reminder that bigots still exist puts Dick in a foul mood. So, naturally, Wally digs up an old remedy to calm him down and remind him that there's still a good side.





	The Good Side Of Things (return of the blanket fort)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write this one for the longest time, pretty much ever since I posted the first Blanket Fort fic. I just couldn't find the inspiration to actually sit down and do it until now I heard "The Good Side" by Troye Sivan when it came out a few days ago, with that mellow acoustic sort of vibe. That's what I was sort of going for here. Hope you enjoy!

 

Wally could just _feel_ his own knuckles making indents in his cheek as he leaned into his fist, but just couldn’t find a single cell inside him that cared. He’d read this paragraph about ten times now, and it wasn’t sinking in. He’d even stopped speed reading in an attempt to make sense of the block of text. Either he was in dire need of a break, or this page on quantum theory was written by a chimpanzee with a Macbook. Face slipping of its perch, Wally let his forehead hit the textbook with a groan of utter defeat. He was pretty sure if he had any more coffee his heart would beat its way right through his ribcage and out the window. Which, of course, would be pretty inconvenient. He was sort of enjoying being alive. So, Gatorade it was.

Pushing away from the desk, Wally stood with a yawn, scratching a a persistent itch between his shoulder blades. One of the few perks of doing online courses between his internship was being able to stay in his pajamas all day. One of the cons was being able to stay in his pajamas all day. Stumbling his way through the apartment, Wally stopped at the fridge. He stared blankly at the contents before remembering why he got up in the first place. An orange gatorade in the door was calling his name. Shutting the fridge door, he leaned back against the counter and popped the cap off, downing a quarter of it in one go.

It was a bit of a miserable day out. Rain pelted down in a steady pour against the windows across the apartment. An overcast sky hung low over Bludhaven. On the other side of the river, the skyscrapers of Gotham were shrouded in heavy fog, cutting the city in half as the taller buildings disappeared into the cloud cover. At least it wasn’t windy, Wally told himself as he wandered over to the windows. And at least he wasn’t outside in it. Dick was probably having a field day on his beat shift.

Spring was finally melting the ice and polluted snow of Bludhaven. Wally set his bottle down on the sill, bracing his hands under the latch and pushing it up. A full, warm breeze pushed in. Enough of cold. From outside, the soft sound of pattering rain, the hum of the city punctuated every so often with car horns or sirens or voices, drifted into the room. With a bit of fresh air circulating, Wally dragged himself, albeit reluctantly, back to his desk. He’d been sitting, staring at his textbook for maybe two seconds before his phone broke the silence of the apartment. Wally all too easily gave in to the distraction.

Swiping his phone up from the desk, Wally leaned back in his chair and kicked off to spin in lazy circles. A picture of Dick and him kissing at midnight on New Years blinked to life. Wally paused a moment to smile. God, he was such a sap. Answering the call, he brought it up to his ear. “Hey, Babe.”

“Hey,” Dick replied from the other end of the line. If Wally had to guess, he was probably in the Bullpen at his precinct. Conversation and shuffling papers droned on in the background. Dick sounded kind of out of breath, too - probably just ran in from the rain. “What’re you up to?”

“Studying,” Wally replied with a heavy sigh. “And feeling my brain slowly melt out my ears.”

“I thought you were at Starr today?” Dick replied. He’d been out the door for work before Wally woke up. Wally had the vague memory of a kiss pressed to his jaw and a muttered “see you” before the creaking of their bedroom door left him in silence again. He’d been fast asleep again in seconds.

Wally shook his head. “No, it’s a Tuesday.”

“Right,” Dick laughed, still a little breathless. “Well, that works out even better, I guess. I’m about to go on lunch in half an hour. Did you want to meet up and get something to eat? Haven’t actually had much of a chance to talk to you in the past few days.”

Which was, unfortunately, true. Dick had taken a shift at the Watchtower, supervised a mission with the Team, worked his beats, and gone on patrol, all only with breaks to sleep and kiss Wally Goodmorning and Goodnight. Honestly, Wally didn’t know how he did it. Every time Dick left for a mission or patrol, there was an aching part of Wally that followed after him like a magnet. But he couldn’t - not yet. The cellular degeneration had slowed down, but his heart was still - yeah. Wally, quick to rid himself of those thoughts, answered with a grin. “Sounds perfect. That curry place a block down from the precinct is pretty good. The one we went to last time?”

“Deal. I’ll meet you in fourty?”

Wally paused, taking a moment to sniff himself. “Fourty five. Gotta shower.”

“About time. I was starting to get complaints from the neighbours. They thought something had died.”

“Funny guy,” Wally rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you there. Order me a coke if you get there first.”

“Alright. Love you.”

“Love you.” Ending the call, Wally set his phone down and stopped turning in his chair long enough to grab his gatorade. He stared down at his textbook, before closing it and tossing it into his book bag. He’d get one of the Mad Scientists at Starr to explain it to him tomorrow. A long morning of his brain running circles around itself had tired him out, and a lunch date with Dick sounded a thousand times better.

Draining the rest of his gatorade, Wally tossed it into the recycle bin, and headed back over to the window. For a moment, he caught his reflection in the glass, casting a phantom image over the rain fogged city. Wally rubbed his hand over his chest. Shutting the window, he made his way into the bathroom.

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

Maybe he didn’t need the shower after all. By the time Wally got to the restaurant, he was dripping wet all over again, his jacket soaked through. In only the time it took for him to wait for the buss, and then run down the street from the stop to the door of the restaurant, the rain had pelted him. Ducking through the doorway of the hole-in-the-wall establishment, he shook what water he could from his hair before looking up to see Dick waiting for him at a table by the window - and laughing at him for that matter. He wasn’t in his uniform - probably doing desk work for the rest of the day. Crossing over to the table, Wally flicked water off his fingers at Dick and shed his jacket. He hung it up on the back of his chair, and finally sat down with a heavy sigh.

“A bit moist outside?” Dick smirked. He wiped the water droplets from off his cheek, though he himself looked like he was still drying off from the rain.

Wally visibly cringed. “Ugh, don’t use that word, you freak.”

Dick only shrugged. “Hey, at least it’s reasonably warm out. Nothing worse than being cold and moi-”

Wally kicked his foot under the table. Dick stuck his tongue out at his partner and pushed a glass of coke his way. Taking the cup, Wally took one look at the volume of bubble beverage inside and sent a mock glare at Dick. “Did the waiter skimp out on me, or did you drink some of my coke?”

“The second one.”

“You literally have your own coke right in front of you.”

“Yours tastes better.”

Wally rolled his eyes, swiping Dick’s glass to take a long sip from his straw. Sliding the cup back over to him, Wally leaned back in his chair and appraised his boyfriend from the other side of the table. “Remind me why I dragged my ass out into the rain for you?”

Dick, again, shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know. Kinda stupid. Totally not worth it.” The opaque light shining in from the window brightened his eyes to an impossible shade, like all of the blue missing from the sky had drained into the whirlpool of his gaze. Beautiful bastard.

“Well,” Wally smirked. “I’ll remember to never make this mistake again.”

The waiter stopped at their table. Dick got Tikka Masala, Wally got Butter Chicken. The soft chorus of muted conversation and clinking dishware played on in the background with the rain tapping on the window pane. Left alone in their little corner of the restaurant again, they sipped their drinks in companionable silence. As Dick leaned back in his seat, a glimmer of light caught the chain hanging around Dick’s neck, peaking out from beneath the collar of his shirt. He couldn’t see it, but Wally knew that the ring he’d bought him years ago still hung on the end. They’d talked about it a few times since his return, arriving at the mutual agreement to wait. It wasn’t a good time, their lives too chaotic and unstable. Besides, all things considered, they were pretty comfortable where they were.

Attention drifting out the window, Wally watched a plane over head descending toward the distant airport. “I’ve got our plane tickets for California booked,” he said. The Zeta Tubes were tempting, but it was always best to avoid using them while not traveling on Hero Business. Paper trails and all that. “Zee and Artemis said we could crash at their place, they’re only an hour outside of Palo Alto now.”

“Sounds good,” Dick nodded. “What time is your first exam?”

“10am on the 16th. Then I’ve got two on the 18th, and my last is on the 19th. We’re leaving on the 15th, and coming back on the 23rd.”

“It’ll be nice,” Dick commented. “I haven’t been back to California since I moved back here. And at least we’ve got some time to enjoy ourselves after you’re finished suffering.”

Wally groaned, “I’m _already_ suffering.”

“Hey, at least you’re finished after this. You’ll be a free man.”

“Still gotta get through my internship with Starr.”

“Free-ish.”

Wally laughed, nudging Dick’s foot under the table, a little more playful than vengeful this time. Combing his hand back through his hair, he glanced between his boyfriend and the window. “I’m just looking forward to some sunshine. Spend some time at the beach, go downtown. We could have a nice dinner, maybe at a fancy winery or something,” he winked.

“There’s that one I always wanted to go to out in Napa Valley. Can’t remember what it was called, but I was so _mad_ because I was still 19 and I couldn’t get by with a Fake ID.”

“It’s your baby face,” Wally teased.

Now it was Dick’s turn to kick him under the table.

Their food came. Conversation drifted naturally between bites, the hot food and spices chasing away the damp chill. Dick only had an hour off for Lunch, though, and had to account for time to get back to the precinct. The moment they were finished, the got the bill, paid, and headed back outside. Over the course of their meal, the rain had let up outside. There was still no sign of blue in the heavy sky, but sunlight filtered in easily through the sheen overhead, and the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle.

“Really though, thanks for coming out for lunch,” Dick said as he pulled his jacket on.

“No problem, I needed the fresh air,” Wally grinned. “See you at home.”

With that, they shared a quick goodbye kiss. That’s all it was. Dick slid only one arm around Wally’s shoulder, Wally had his hand on Dick’s waist, a small gesture from both. Meant to be parted in the next second so they could return to their work and studies with that small promise of “later”. Short and sweet- but all _too_ short when a rough shoulder bulled against Wally’s back in passing. Wally caught himself with a frown, turning to look over his shoulder as three men about their age laughed nasty up the sidewalk. He would have let it go if he hadn’t heard the muttered “faggots” under their breaths.

“Hey!” Wally roared. “You got a fuckin’ problem?!”

The trio stopped, turned back toward them with scoffs, full of bravado. Evidently, they were still well entertained, and advanced on them with the same amusement. Wally took one stomp forward, only for Dick’s hand on his shoulder to stop him. Looking back over his shoulder, he found his partner completely collected, almost a dead calm. Stepping up beside Wally, Dick reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out what looked like a leather wallet. He held it out in front of him, let the panel drop, and revealed his Police Badge. Bravado spilling out onto the sidewalk, the three young men cursed loudly and instantly tripped over each other to run away. They dashed around the corner into an alley beside the Curry House. Dick ran after them, with Wally on his trail, skidding to a stop in the alley when he found that they’d already disappeared. With snapped movements, Dick closed the wallet, and pocketed his badge. Wally watched him carefully - he knew this disposition well. Dick’s rage smoldered like an inferno under the surface of his icy stare.

Turning sharply on his heel, Dick lashed out, kicking over a stack of cardboard boxes with an enraged shout. The boxes fell into a nearby puddle, soaking up the dirty water.

Wally took that as his cue. Though he was still angry too, and was still restraining himself from running full speed after them, his boyfriend was more important. He sighed, heavy, trying to exhale his own frustration. “Dick-”

“I should have arrested those fuckers on the spot,” Dick snapped.

“ _Dick,_ ” Wally repeated. “Don’t let them get to you, they were morons.”

“Just,” Dick pushed his hand back through is hair, “ _fuck_ , shit like this shouldn’t _happen_ anymore, I-”

Wally moved in front of his partner, hands braced on his shoulders and head ducking down to look him in the eyes. “Hey,” he continued softly, “they’re nothing.”

Fury smothered by Wally’s gentle reassurance, Dick sighed. He let his forehead drop against Wally’s shoulder, all of his rage trickling out of his body and dripping down through the flood drains. Wally wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss to his temple and just held him. A few moments passed before Dick could bring himself to straighten up. “You’re right,” he sighed again. Stepping out of Wally’s embrace, he pulled back his sleeve to look down at the watch on his wrist. “I’ve gotta get back before I’m late,” he muttered. Dick reached down, squeezed Wally’s hand, and attempted a sorry smile. “See you tonight.”

As Dick walked out of the alley and back out onto the street, Wally decided that that goodbye wasn’t good enough. Wally followed him out onto the sidewalk and caught his hand again. Before Dick could ask what he was doing, he tugged his partner into his arms. Wally kissed him, full and unafraid, out in the open where the whole damn city could see them. Dick, tense as he was, melted against him. They were past the point of hiding their goodbye kisses where prying eyes couldn’t find them. Sometimes they both needed that reminder.

Wally pulled back, his chest flaring with warmth when he found Dick smiling back at him. “Later, babe.”

Dick laughed, shaking his head as he stole one last peck and stepped back. “Later.”

Wally watched Dick’s back retreat up the sidewalk until he’d dissolved into the stream of pedestrians, disappearing around the corner. Left standing outside in the drizzling rain, he found himself a bit lost. His bus came rolling down the street, braking at the stop just ahead of him. He didn’t get on. Needed some time to clear his head, rain be damned. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Wally turned and started walking back toward home.

He knew Dick. He’d calmed down from his initial rage, and he’d say that he was over it, but this would sink like a pebble in his gut and put him off for days. Wally honestly just wanted some way to make him feel better, take the edge off of this blow. As he walked the streets of Bludhaven, he passed a little shop, advertising a sale on string lights in the window. Wally stopped, staring through the glass at the twinkling lights on display. A smile crept onto his face.

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

There was no recovering his mood since that shitty encounter after lunch. Dick went back to work, stuck in the Bullpen filling out papers and reports on cases he’d been working on. Burying himself in the monotonous and mundane task took his mind off of the event, but it did nothing to lighten the frustrated melancholy that dug into his bones. He kept to himself for the rest of the day, not snapping at any attempts his coworkers made at conversation, but not really engaging either. Dick hated being in a bad mood. It only made his bad mood worse.

Thankfully, though, the time to clock out and head home came. The day had stretched on impossibly long, but he did, inevitably, survive. So, that was something. After submitting his work to his Captain, he gathered his jacket and headed out. As he waited at the bus stop, and even as he rode the bus home leaning against the window, he couldn’t help looking out onto the streets, almost hoping he’d find those men again. Revenge wasn’t something he believed in, but damn if it wasn’t tempting.

Despite the rain having stopped hours ago, he was still damp by the time he made it to his apartment building. The air was thick with fog left over from the rain, hanging low over the city and absorbing into his clothes with a slight chill as night came on. All he wanted was a hot shower, a change of clothes, and the mind numbing drone of the TV for the rest of the night. After the elevator ride up to his floor, Dick found himself in short order fiddling with the keys to his apartment. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, tossing his damp jacket onto the coat hanger.

“Babe,” he called into the apartment as he kicked his shoes off, “I’m home.” No answer. Dick frowned as he set his keys on the table by the door. “Wally?” Again, no answer. The apartment was pretty dark, from what he could see at the front door. Maybe he was out? Dick walked away from the door, around the corner toward the living room-

A massive Blanket Fort had been constructed in the middle of the room. Hanging from push-pins in the ceiling and string lights, spare sheets and the blankets from their bed draped over the sofa, and a few chairs from the table, all arranged in colourful peaks. Dick stopped in the threshold, staring in awe and amusement. Inside, he could just barely see the silhouette of his boyfriend sitting in the centre of the fort. A piece of paper had been stuck onto the front sheet with scotch tape. Dick laughed aloud, walking over to pluck the note off the ‘door’.

“ _Fort Dress Code:_  
No work clothes allowed.  
Must be wearing PJs to gain admittance.  
Comfy sweats are acceptable.  
No clothes at all preferable.”

Dick had to snort just to keep from laughing too loud. “Are you serious?”

Wally’s silhouette shifted inside. “Sorry, can’t hear you.”

Dick rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright fine, but I’m showering first.”

One steaming hot shower later, and Dick reemerged into the living room. To keep with the apparent dress code, he’d put on a soft t-shirt and his favourite pair of Wally’s old sweatpants. Hands in his pockets, he approached the Blanket Fort and crouched down in front of the sheet acting as the door. Slipping one hand out, he pulled up the sheet to reveal Wally sitting cross legged on a bed of more blankets, grinning like an idiot with, of all things, a piece of Strawberry Pocky between his teeth. Dick burst into a quiet laugh the moment he saw him, ducking his head and smiling till his cheeks hurt.

Still, he took the bait. Literally. Leaning forward onto his knees, he bit off the end of the pocky, savoured that “vague idea of strawberry” flavour, and kissed Wally with a soft smile. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

Wally pulled back, making a show of rolling his eyes as he reached out to hold up the sheet for Dick. “Shut up and get in my Fort.”

Rolling his eyes mockingly in return, Dick nonetheless complied and crawled inside. Wally had lined the walls and floor of the fortress with every pillow and blanket they owned. One sheet had been draped over the back of their TV to let it in, the coffee table pushed aside to make more leg room. Dick settled with his back against the pillows propped up at the foot of the couch, taking it all in. As the sheet fell behind him, the two were enclosed in their little world of dotted lights and warmth. “I cannot believe you,” Dick chuckled.

“Hey, I learned from the master,” Wally grinned. “Speaking of which,” he turned toward the coffee table, where he had two steaming mugs of hot chocolate set aside. Wally passed one to Dick, who started laughing all over again as he accepted it.

If it hadn’t already been, it was pretty obvious now that Wally was trying to recreate the Blanket Fort Dick had made for them when they were teenagers, that heavy night Wally had been kicked out of his house after his parents outed him. Another night when just being who they were settled over them like a wet blanket, suffocating and inescapable. Dick’s smile softened as he curled around the mug and took a sip. His eyes widened as he swallowed. “Is there _booze_ in this?”

“Um, _duh._ We’re not _kids_ anymore, Dick,” Wally smirked. “It’s Kahlua.”

Dick took another long sip. Though unexpected, it was surprisingly _amazing_. “Nice.”

So there they were, two grown ass men, sitting in a Blanket Fort in the middle of their apartment. Wally had Sonic Mania set up on the TV, and had ordered pizza just twenty minutes before Dick got home. The expression on the Pizza Boy’s face when he peered into the apartment to find a fully constructed fortress of blankets and string lights had been priceless. For hours, the two of them stuffed their faces with pizza and junk food, swapped their hot chocolate out for beer, and traded turns trying to get through their game each time one of them failed. Wally nearly choked on his garlic bread when Dick started raging at Tails for constantly _not_ being where he needed him and generally getting in the fucking way. It was certainly _one_ way to let out his anger from earlier in the day. The world outside was nonexistent, inconsequential, unable to reach them in their little safe haven. It was the same feeling as when they were kids with nothing certain but each other. Best part this time around, though, was that Bruce wasn’t there to demand they keep the door open. He couldn’t stop Wally from leaving hickies on Dick’s neck just to distract him from the game. The last evidence of daylight seeped away, leaving their apartment in complete darkness save for the flickering colours of the TV and the ever constant string lights.

Finally, when they’d made it far enough into the game, and Dick had successfully taken his fury out on the pixelated characters on the screen, they switched to watching a movie. After browsing through netflix, they agreed on watching an old Spiderman movie. Wally laid back against the pillows, opening his arm to Dick, who shamelessly snuggled in at his side, head resting on his partner’s shoulder. The audio of the movie was cushioned by the surrounding blankets.

As they settled in, Wally pressed his lips to the side of Dick’s head and pulled him closer. “You wanna talk about it?” he murmured.

Dick was silent for a moment, breath evening out. “Just don’t expect that kind of shit to happen anymore.”

“It sucks,” Wally agreed, “and you’re right, it _shouldn’t_ happen at all. But I mean, think about what the world was like when we were kids. Think about my Dad.” Dick hummed under his breath. Wally’s relationship with his Father had improved immensely since his return. Rudolph West had mellowed out since his divorce, and even more so after losing his only son, both unfortunate events that did nontheless lead to the man getting help and becoming more introspective on himself. Their relationship wasn’t perfect. There was baggage there that they would _never_ be able to shed, and things that Wally couldn’t forget. It was still tense - but if there was ever a testament to the possibility of improvement in open-mindedness, it was the West family. Wally kissed behind the shell of Dick’s ear, earning a shiver.. “Things are getting better, y’know? Look at us, we’re here, _literally_ against all odds. A couple of assholes on the street aren’t about to set us back.”

Just when Dick thought it was physically possible to fall in love with this man any more. He exhaled slowly. “I guess you’ve got a fair point.”

“Damn right I do,” Wally grinned, opting to kiss Dick on the lips this time. He smiled into his mouth. “You’re the Tails to my Sonic.”

“Awwwww,” Dick laughed without breaking the slow rhythm of the kiss, “I fuckin’ hate Tails.”

Breaking away, Wally pressed his forehead against Dick’s temple with bubbling laughter. They’d never shy away from the rest of the world. But, when the rest of the world was unkind, they had a place to hide away for a while. Dick fell asleep halfway though their third movie, at 2am, with his head on Wally’s chest.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing against Tails. Honestly. But Dick is 100% me when I play Sonic Mania.
> 
> Reviews, as always, are vastly appreciated! 
> 
> [「TWITTER」](https://twitter.com/novaviis) [「TUMBLR」](https://novaviis.tumblr.com)


End file.
